British baby names were very much on the front burner this week, following the release of the official Top 100 popular British names lists for 2010.

　　At the top of the British names rankings was a pair of what sounds for all the world like matchy-matchy twin names, Olivia and Oliver. 

　　Here’s how the rest of the Top 10 played out, with the comparative standing in the States in parentheses:

　　British Girl Names

　　Olivia (Number 4 in the US)

　　Sophie  (59 )

　　Emily (6)

　　Lily (17)

　　Amelia (41)

　　Jessica (93)

　　Ruby (113)

　　Chloe (9)

　　Grace (18)

　　Evie (705)

　　British Boy Names

　　Oliver (88)

　　Jack (44)

　　Harry (658)

　　Alfie (0)

　　Charlie (244)

　　Thomas (62)

　　William (the closest at #5)

　　Joshua (11)

　　George (164)

　　James (19)

　　(Though, as was pointed out last year, if the three main spellings of Muhammed were added together, that name would approach first place.)

　　Comparisons of British and American popular names always involves a lot of back and forth, imports and exports, and looking for evidence (pro and con) of the sometimes inferior feeling in the US that our trans-Atlantic cousins are a step or two ahead in name trends.

　　But as seen above, this year’s lists show a decidedly two-way street. Some names long faded in the US are thriving in the UK, such as Jessica (still in the Top Ten in the UK, barely hanging on in the Top 100 here, at #92) and Adam (Number 18 vs. 81). 

　　On the other hand, two of the Top 25 girls’ names there– Poppy andFreya —have not even entered the Top 1000 here, and on the boys’ list the same holds true for Alfie (Number 4 there) and Archie (24).

　　Other names that were in the UK Top 100 and not even in the Top 1000 here (though several of which are already prescient Berry faves) are:

　　Finlay

　　Florence

　　Harriet

　　Hollie

　　Imogen

　　Isobel

　　Jenson

　　Louie

　　Maisy

　　Niamh

　　Ollie

　　Rosie

　　Tilly

　　Maisy and Ollie showed the sharpest rises of any of the UK Top 100 names, and others on the ascent were Lacey, Sophie, Lily, Carlie, Zachary, Noah, Kai, and George. 

　　There were six new girls’ names making their debuts—Annabelle, Eliza, Laila, Aisha, Maryam and Maisy, and six boys– Ollie, Bobby, Caleb, Jensen, Dexter and Kayden.  

　　Libby was the girl’s name that declined most in popularity, sliding 20 places to number 98 and the boy’s name Aidan slipped 13 places to 91. In Wales, Ruby and Oliver were at the top.

　　The full UK list can be found at this official site.

　　Also released were the most popular names in Scotland, headed by:

　　Sophie

　　Olivia

　　Ava

　　Emily

　　Isla

　　Lucy

　　Chloe

　　Lily

　　Ellie

　　Emma

　　And

　　Jack

　　Lewis

　　James

　　Logan

　　Daniel

　　Ryan

　　Aaron

　　Oliver

　　Liam

　　Jamie